Interesting November Stock Options for Pfizer

Consistently, one of the more popular stocks people enter into their stock options watchlist at Stock Options Channel is PfizerPfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE). So this week we highlight one interesting put contract, and one interesting call contract, from the November expiration for PFE.

The put contract our YieldBoost algorithm identified as particularly interesting, is at the $29 strike, which has a bid at the time of this writing of 85 cents. Collecting that bid as the premium represents a 2.9% return against the $29 commitment, or a 9.1% annualized rate of return (at Stock Options Channel we call this the YieldBoost).

Selling a put does not give an investor access to PFE’s upside potential the way owning shares would, because the put seller only ends up owning shares in the scenario where the contract is exercised. So unless Pfizer Inc sees its shares decline 3.4% and the contract is exercised (resulting in a cost basis of $28.15 per share before broker commissions, subtracting the 85 cents from $29), the only upside to the put seller is from collecting that premium for the 9.1% annualized rate of return.

Worth considering, is that the annualized 9.1% figure actually exceeds the 3.5% annualized dividend paid by Pfizer Inc by 5.6%, based on the current share price of $30.02. And yet, if an investor was to buy the stock at the going market price in order to collect the dividend, there is greater downside because the stock would have to lose 3.4% to reach the $29 strike price.

Always important when discussing dividends is the fact that, in general, dividend amounts are not always predictable and tend to follow the ups and downs of profitability at each company. In the case of Pfizer Inc, looking at the dividend history chart for PFE below can help in judging whether the most recent dividend is likely to continue, and in turn whether it is a reasonable expectation to expect a 3.5% annualized dividend yield.

Turning to the other side of the option chain, we highlight one call contract of particular interest for the November expiration, for shareholders of Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) looking to boost their income beyond the stock’s 3.5% annualized dividend yield. Selling the covered call at the $31 strike and collecting the premium based on the 57 cents bid, annualizes to an additional 5.9% rate of return against the current stock price (this is what we at Stock Options Channel refer to as the YieldBoost), for a total of 9.4% annualized rate in the scenario where the stock is not called away. Any upside above $31 would be lost if the stock rises there and is called away, but PFE shares would have to advance 3.3% from current levels for that to happen, meaning that in the scenario where the stock is called, the shareholder has earned a 5.2% return from this trading level, in addition to any dividends collected before the stock was called.

The chart below shows the trailing twelve month trading history for Pfizer Inc, highlighting in green where the $29 strike is located relative to that history, and highlighting the $31 strike in red:

The chart above, and the stock’s historical volatility, can be a helpful guide in combination with fundamental analysis to judge whether selling the November put or call options highlighted in this article deliver a rate of return that represents good reward for the risks. We calculate the trailing twelve month volatility for Pfizer Inc (considering the last 252 trading day PFE historical stock prices using closing values, as well as today’s price of $30.02) to be 16%.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.